Belözoğlu Takes Fenerbahçe Back to the Touchline

Fenerbahçe’s trip to Arca Çorum FK comes with the line-ups set and the pressure plain enough: the new coach is already required to stop a league slide.

NTV Spor reported that Belözoğlu would take charge of Fenerbahçe for the first time since returning to the club, after İsmail Kartal’s departure. The 46-year-old has agreed a 1.5-year deal and returns to the bench after a previous interim spell in 2020-21, when he oversaw 10 matches and lost once.

That matters because this is not a ceremonial debut. Fenerbahçe arrive after two straight Süper Lig defeats, the sort of sequence that shortens patience at a club built to treat every dropped point as an argument. A midweek Champions League win over Liverpool, under assistant coach Dirk Kuyt, offered some relief. League form still needs repairing.

The fixture itself carries a small novelty but not a trivial one: NTV Spor said it is the first official meeting between Fenerbahçe and Çorum FK. For the visitors, that first step into unfamiliar ground comes without three players. Archie Brown is suspended, while Marco Asensio remains injured. Nathan Aké has recovered from injury but was not included as he has not yet resumed work with the team, according to the same report.

Çorum’s own late problem sharpens the contest rather than romanticising it. The home club announced that Berat Ayberk Özdemir suffered a Grade 2B injury to the right gastrocnemius muscle following examination and imaging, with a return estimated at six to eight weeks. Losing a midfield option on the eve of facing Fenerbahçe is the kind of damage that alters a plan before the whistle.

So the first team sheets tell the real story here. Belözoğlu is back, but not in comfort; Çorum are hosting a heavyweight, but not at full strength. In Turkish football, the bench is often judged before the match ends. This one gives both clubs reasons to count the cost early.